NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Dr. Shawn Joseph told the Metro School Board that it's time to start discussing the terms of his departure as Nashville's director of schools.
In remarks at the beginning of Monday night's board meeting, Joseph told the board that it's time for "a mutual conversation to figure out how to best transition" to new leadership.
Joseph's remarks followed months of controversy - a sexual harassment scandal, questionable contracts, and low teacher morale - that led one board member this week to give notice a vote in two weeks on terminating his contract.
It came the same day that NewsChannel 5 revealed the State Board of Education was proposing a one-year suspension of his state license for failing to report teacher misconduct cases.
"If there was a mistake that I made it was that I pushed too hard with too little resources and, as a result, people made errors," Joseph said.
"The errors were not intentional or willful, as our audit communicated. They were just errors."
He lashed out at NewsChannel 5 for what he called "biased" reporting and took swipes at his critics on the board.
"This is not a time to point fingers or to blame people," Joseph said. "It's a time for action and it's a time for you to remember your civic duty to vote."
The schools director also invoked images of Jesus in describing what he had experience.
"I'll go ahead and leave you with the great rapper and philosopher Tupac Shakur," Joseph added.
"I ain't mad at ya. In due time, everybody tends to get what they deserve."
